Anybody had a similar experience? What was the outcome? We’ve changed meds and gone for second opinions. She’s not improving to the point now where she was getting psyychotic so they put her on olanzepine. Now she is cycling between a good day and a bad day. On a good day she is depressed and hardly getting out of bed. Bad days, she is anxious, asking reassurances and feels she has been pulled back in time. She is refusing therapy and our family is really exhausted trying to take care of her. She had 2 hospital stays which made her worse.
I am an ex RN. I also suffer from anxiety and have long had a whole lot of experience with both anxiety and depression when I was working. Interestingly enough, recent research (AARP has stuff on this) showed that MDs are now encouraged to examine patients for anxiety, especially our elders, at each exam. They say it is getting "missed".
I can tell you right now that there is nothing like getting old for increasing anxiety. I am 81. I am WELL AWARE of the losses I am experiencing in memory, in balance, and I am well aware of how much more is coming. It is VERY anxiety provoking, and the MORE SO if you cannot talk about it.
Brings me to the next thing. DO YOU discuss this with your mother. If not, why not? Will she talk about it. Can she express to you why things are worse and what she fears? Because if she can then we aren't looking at dementia, but if she can't at all, we may be looking at something more than just anxiety.
I can't tell you much more. I can ask you to continue to observe. To try to talk with your Mom about this. My daughter, 61, and I discuss this a whole LOT.
I wish you both the very best.
She's sort of young to have something like ALZ (which strikes earlier than other dementias) and those don't sound like symptoms for that, but everyone is unique.
I agree with Alva that a thorough neuro/psych exam should be done if it hasn't already.
Does your Mother live alone? With a spouse, yourself or others?
I am thinking her level of symtoms must be debilitating for her. Can she look after herself on a day to day basis?
She's only on benzos, refuses AD's and any other medication because that just isn't 'her'. Some days are much worse than others.
Since she is in Hospice Care she doesn't see any drs. All I can say is, I wish they hadn't moved her back home to 'die'. She is in a bad way and not safe, but the kids think if they place her in a NH, she will die in a week.
(It's weird, b/c on her bad days, she insists that the kids HAVE got her in a NH.)
For your mom--there well may be absolutely nothing you can do to calm these cycles, but I wouldn't quit trying to figure it out.
Neuropsych evals are comprised of verbal testing, (memory, ability to read and make sense of what's read) physical strength, possible scans of the brain to see if there is any evidence of silent strokes. If she is not cooperative, it won't help.
So--the medications are taken regualrly or just when she's having a 'day'. You may want to medicate her 24/7 and see if that helps. Anxiety gets it's own energy when it's going. I have it, somedays it's awful, but I try to stay one step ahead by being aware of my abilities and inabilities and triggers.
But, then, I am not impaired. I can always talk my way 'down'--sounds like your mom can't do that.
IN the end, if she can't cooperate and it gets worse, you may have to move her to somewhere she can get the 24/7 care she needs. I imagine you are all exhausted by this.
You MIL’s quality of life is completely gone. If she would die in a week, it would be a blessing for her.
This has to be so hard for you to watch, Mid.
I know that it’s your husband and in law’s decision to make and that they don’t care about your opinion on the matter. It’s such a sad situation.
Truly hoping that this won’t last much longer for everyone’s sake.
I have a LO with similar conditions and it has taken a very long time with a psychiatrist who is a psychopharmacologist to find the right combo of meds.
Until she --her mood--is stabilized I can't imagine she would benefit from or be able to participate in talk therapy.
Of course you cannot do this all yourself but I urge you to take a look at the website below to see the effects of combining some of the meds she is on. Easier said than done but you need to find a psychiatrist who will go slowly enough to find the right meds:
https://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/klonopin-with-mirtazapine-703-357-1640-0.html
Applies to: Klonopin (clonazepam), olanzapine MAJOR problem
"Ask your doctor before using clonazePAM together with OLANZapine. This can cause low blood pressure, shallow breathing, weak pulse, muscle weakness, drowsiness, dizziness and slurred speech. This may be more likely to occur in older adults or those with a debilitating condition. You should be counseled to avoid activities requiring mental alertness until you know how these medications will affect you. If your doctor prescribes these medications together, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests to safely use these medications together. "
Moderate Problem clonazepam and mirtazapine--
"Using clonazepam together with mirtazapine may increase side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, confusion, and difficulty concentrating. Some people, especially the elderly, may also experience impairment in thinking, judgment, and motor coordination. "
To let you know how very POTENT any psychotropics are, I recently was prescribed a drug called cymbalta. I was having some increased BP, some nerve pain in my neck, and some anxiety and my doc said "maybe these issues are playing with one another; let's get you on low dose of cymbalta which is a mild anti depressant and often helps with nerve pain.
Well, I took one and the result was a day spent in the bathroom with non stop liquid yellow stool, explosive and impossible to hold onto (sorry for the graphics). Later that night I couldn 't sleep. Unusual for me. Then I got something I have never had (tho my Mom did and was good at describing, which is restless leg syndrome. Where you just keep moving your legs. I was quite beside myself and started looking up the drug online. Turns out my experience not all that unusual. I just stopped the med after one pill. Told my doc "Hey, I will keep the pain and anxiety, thanks. I am a PRO at them. But THIS is a nightmare".
We are all different in our responses to meds, and medications all play with one another, and our reaction to them can be fine one day and bad the next.
So sorry your Mom's going through this.